1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to buffer controller as may be used in codecs and related methods.
2. Description of Related Art
As is known, codecs are used in a wide variety of electronic devices that process real-time signals such as audio and/or video signals. Such devices include laptop, notebook and other personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDA), compact disk (CD) players, Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG3) or (MP3) players, digital video disk (DVD) players, amplitude modulation/frequency modulation (AM/FM) radios, satellite radios, cellular telephones, etc. As an example, a computer may include an audio codec integrated circuit to support the processing of audio signals in order to produce an audio output that is delivered to the user through speakers, headphones or the like and a video codec for playing streaming video or DVD video content on the computer's display screen.
Codecs typically include a buffer to support the processing of the real-time signal. When multiple real-time signals are present, multiple buffers are required. The need exists for codecs that can be efficiently implemented in an integrated circuit environment.